Turkey | Border at Kapikule | EU animal exportsto Turkey
Our team has inspected today 15 road transport vehicles transporting live bovines from EU member states to Turkey. The majority of animals have been found to be in a good condition. However we have found one truck that carried 2 young newborn calves that have been born during the journey to two German heifers.
That should have not happened. The controls of the gestation period at the place of departure should have been stricter. Special attention should be given to the insemination date of heifers that are loaded for such long journeys. The two mothers and their calves continued the journey after they have been given just a 3 hour rest at the stables in Kapikule.
The waiting times at the Turkish side of the border have decreased. But nerveless once the animals enter Turkey they still have to wait in average of 5 hours to get the entire import document. At least the lorries are parked in different places where they have the possibility to manually water the animals on the lorry, since just the automatic watering system inside the lorries is not enough to sufficiently and adequately water all the bovines loaded. Some companies that are transporting bulls destined for slaughter are also unloading the animals for 3 to 5 hours, at the small stable near the border.